Electrosurgery is a common procedure for dentists, doctors, and veterinarians. Electrosurgical handpieces are commercially available that will accommodate a wide variety of electrodes shapes and sizes, such as needles, blades, scalpels, balls and wire loops. Also, multi-function electrodes are available.
An electrosurgical handpiece for blades is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,754, whose contents are herein incorporated by reference. This is an instrument that can be connected to a source of electrosurgical currents and that provides a slitted collet for receiving the shank of a standard disposable scalpel blade. The instrument can be used in many surgical procedures in which a conventional scalpel is employed, mainly for general cutting procedures. It has the advantage of providing electrosurgical currents at the sharp edge of the scalpel which assist in cutting tissue while at the same time providing a coagulation effect. However, the conventional scalpel blade augmented by electrosurgical currents has not been used for removing tissue and lesions using the electrodesiccation effect.
Other known electrode shapes include a curet, as described in our U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,864, whose contents are herein incorporated by reference. This is a circular band with one sharpened edge for use in an electrosurgical dermatological curretage procedure. Another shape is the well-known ball electrode which is a spherical ball on the end of an electrode shank which is used for coagulation. Still another shape is a flat round disc with a sharpened edge useful for vaporizing lesions and tumor tissue, as described in our copending application, Ser. No. 09/819,017, filed Mar. 27, 2001, whose contents are herein incorporated by reference.
The related patent application describes a probe electrode configured with an angled shape for concentrating at edges the RF energy more efficiently so as to allow a tissue reduction effect but with lowered RF voltages.
While these various shaped electrodes are suitable for their intended purposes, occasions arise from time-to-time when it would be useful to be able to use the same electrode to obtain an electrodesiccation effect, in which the RF energy instead of being supplied over a relatively wide area is concentrated into a much smaller area primarily for desiccating tissue.
An object of the invention is an improved electrosurgical electrode capable of performing cutting or coagulation with an active edge surface and can at the same time be used to destroy tissue while producing an electrodessication effect.
According to one aspect of the invention, an electrosurgical electrode comprises a flat round blade with a sharpened active edge to which a pointed projection has been added. Preferably, the pointed projection extends generally orthogonally to the plane of the blade.
According to another aspect of the invention, the electrode is formed from a standard disposable scalpel with a sharpened active edge by providing at the unsharpened edge a pointed projection. Preferably, the pointed projection extends in the plane of the blade.
According to still another aspect of the invention, the electrode is formed as an annular curette with a sharpened active edge provided at the unsharpened edge with a pointed projection. Preferably, the pointed projection extends in the plane of the curette.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, the electrode is formed as a standard ball electrode provided at a side surface with a pointed projection.
According to still another aspect of the invention, the electrode of the invention with the pointed projection is combined with electrosurgical currents at a frequency exceeding 3 MHz, preferably about 4 MHz.
The electrode of the invention is versatile, and can be used to thoroughly remove or coagulate diseased tissue with its active edge or surface and also call be used to desiccate tissue with the pointed projection.
The differently-shaped RF electrodes can be used to treat, among other items, numerous skin lesions. Examples include: warts: such as perungal warts, scalp warts, verrucae on lips, tongue, flat, digitate, filiforms warts, seborrheic warts, cordyloma acuminate, planter warts; moles: such as hairy moles, flat and slightly elevated moles, stalked pedunculated moles; melanomas: such as basel cell carcinomas; kerntoses and pre-cancerous dermatoses; leukoplakia and all skin cancers; vascalar nevi, sebaceous cysts and spider nevus. In use, the pointed projection is used to microscopically penetrate to varying depth into the diseased tissue in either of the wave form modes (cutting, coagulation) to obtain the required depth of destruction. The pointed projection is moved in a circular motion as the RF currents directed by the pointed projection destroy the diseased tissue. The result is to leave a dry base, and to seal off any bleeding vessels. All the edges and other suspicious tissue areas can be touched by the pointed projection to kill and dry-up those tissue areas.
The various features of novelty which characterize the invention are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its use, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there are illustrated and described the preferred embodiments of the invention, like reference numerals or letters signifying the same or similar components.